Prince Edward Island

Entries

• #133

  Draw a single hair from the head strongly between the thumb and finger-nail. If it curls up, you are proud.

  The same result indicates that you are cross.

  St. John, N. B., and Prince Edward Island.
  Cape Breton.
• #150

  Moles on the neck,
  Money by the peck.

  Prince Edward Island and Northern Ohio.
• #155

  A mole on the arm means that you will fight many battles, and will be very successful in them.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #167

  Similar rhymes commonly repeated in northern Ohio, after naming an apple and counting the seeds, are,—

  One I love,
  Two I love,
  Three I love, I say.
  Four I love with all my heart,
  And five I cast away.
  Six he loves,
  Seven she loves,
  Eight they both love.
  Nine he comes,
  Ten he tarries,
  Eleven he courts,
  And twelve he marries.

  Prince Edward Island and Mansfield, O.
• #219

  Another:—

  He loves,
  She loves,
  Hate her,
  Have her,
  This year,
  Next year,
  Now or never.

  Girls repeat the last three lines only of the above rhyme.

  Cape Breton.
  Prince Edward Island.
• #224

  Two girls break a wishbone together. The one who gets the longest bit will remain longest unmarried, or, as the familiar rhyme runs,—

  Shortest to marry,
  Longest to tarry.

  If the “knot” (that is, the flattened portion at the junction of the two prongs of the bone) flies away and does not stick to either prong, the two girls are to remain unmarried. Each girl puts her bit of the wishbone over a different door. The first man who enters either door is to marry the girl who has placed her bit of wishbone over the door.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #229

  Name each of the four fingers of one hand for some person of the opposite sex, then press them tightly together with the other hand; the one that hurts the worst indicates whom you will marry.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #236

  Catch the four corners of a handkerchief up in the hand, then let some one wishing to try her fortune draw two. If she gets two corners on the same side, she will not be married. If she gets opposite ones, she will be married.

  Prince Edward Island and Chestertown, Md.
• #242

  Put pieces of paper, each bearing one letter of the alphabet, in water face down, and then place them under the bed. Those turned up in the morning are the initials of your future husband.

  Prince Edward Island and Northern Ohio.
• #244

  Write two names (of possible lovers), cross out the common letters. Touch the uncrossed letters, repeating in turn, “Love, friendship, hate,” and the last uncrossed letter will indicate the state of the heart.

  Prince Edward Island, St. John, N. B., and Northern Ohio.
• #252

  Rub your hands in sweet fern. The first one you shake hands with afterward is your true love.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #263

  Suspend a ring by a hair from the finger. Let it swing over a tumbler. The number of strokes against the side of the tumbler indicates the number of years of age of the future husband.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #268

  Count nine stars for nine successive nights. (If a rainy or cloudy night intervene, the charm is broken, and the project must be begun again.) The person you dream of on the ninth night will be your future partner in life.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #269

  Count nine stars for nine consecutive nights, and the person you dream of the last night is your intended.

  Prince Edward Island and Alabama.
• #391

  If four persons cross hands in shaking hands on taking leave, one will marry before the year is out.

  Prince Edward Island, Eastern Massachusetts, and New York.
• #465

  To dream of catching fish is good luck.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #504

  If you dream of the dead, you’ll hear from the living.

  Prince Edward Island; General in the United States.
• #510

  To dream of eggs means you will get a beating,

  Prince Edward Island.
• #625

  If a garment is put on wrong side out, it is lucky, but unlucky to turn it.

  Prince Edward Island and Massachusetts.
• #656

  It is unlucky to turn back for anything after you have set out to go anywhere.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #706

  If you drop your umbrella, you will have ill luck if you pick it up yourself; but the ill luck may be averted by having some one else pick it up.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #715

  A mass of bubbles floating on a cup of coffee signifies that money is coming to one. If he can take up the bubbles on his spoon, it indicates that he will get the money, but if they escape he will not.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #800

  A string of gold beads worn on the neck will cure or prevent quinsy.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #839

  Water made from snow that falls in the month of May will cure sore eyes.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #849

  To cure hiccoughs, slowly take nine sips of water.

  Prince Edward Island and Northern Ohio.
• #852

  Think of the one you love best, to cure hiccoughs.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #854

  To relieve coughing or strangling, put a pair of scissors down inside the back of your dress.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #860

  Hold, by the points, two needles between your teeth, as you peel onions, and you will not cry.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #862

  You will not cry in peeling onions if you hold a bit of bread in the mouth.

  Or, put the bread on the point of the knife.

  Prince Edward Island, Cambridge, Mass. (Irish).
  Maine.
• #865

  Rubbing a sty with a gold ring will cure it.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #895

  The juice of the “milk-thistles” (Sonchus) will cure warts.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #965

  If it rain before seven
  It will quit before eleven.

  Prince Edward Island and, Maine, Massachusetts, and Northern Ohio.
• #976

  A rainbow is a sign of showers.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #977

  Rain falling while the sun is shining indicates more showers.

  Prince Edward Island and Northern Ohio.
• #996

  A circle round the moon means rain. In some localities the number of stars inside the circle denotes the number of days until it will rain.

  Prince Edward Island; general in the United States.
• #1012

  A fog from the hills
  Brings water to the mills.
  A fog from the sea
  Drives all the rain away.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #1022

  A mackerel sky is a sign of a storm.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #1081

  On first seeing the new moon, hold any small object in the hand while you repeat,—

  New moon, true moon, reveal to me
  Who my true love shall be;
  The color of his hair, the clothes he shall wear,
  And the day that we shall wedded be.

  Put the object—handkerchief, pebble, or what not—under your pillow at night, and you will dream of your future husband.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #1137

  Make soap in the full of the moon.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #1176

  If a corpse remains soft and supple after death, another death in the family will follow.

  Trinity Bay, N. F., and Prince Edward Island.
• #1197

  If you meet a funeral train, it is a sign of death.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #1215

  The term “death-bell” is also a popular one in

  Prince Edward Island.
• #1317

  If you laugh before breakfast, you will cry before supper.

  Prince Edward Island and Somerville, Mass.
• #1358

  If your nose itches, it is a sign that

  You’ll be mad,
  See a stranger,
  Kiss a fool,
  Or be in danger.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #1375

  A lump on the tongue means that you have told a lie.

  Prince Edward Island, New York, and Northern Ohio.